Heating bag



' Dec. 13, 1932.

Filed March 1, 1932 INVENTOR Patented Dec. 13, 1932 I i A i UNITEDSTATES PAIJTENTOFSFICE FREDERICK MARSHALL, F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIAHEATING BAG Application filed March 1, i932. Serial No. 596,044.

The conventional heating bag is of oblong be in the form of ribsextending vertically shape with a plugged opening in one end and fromthe base up the front and rear walls'and is formed of soft rubber. Thusthe bag is crossing the top of the bag. not self-sustaining and ifotherwise unsup- Othernoyel features of construction and ported lies onone of its sides. also of arrangement of parts will appear Thus if thebag is to be placed against the from the following description. feet oranother portion of the body of the In the accompanying drawing, whereinI user it is necessary to support it in place as have illustrated apractical embodiment of by a pillow or by wadding up the bedclothes. theprinciples of my invention, Fig. 1 is an The principal object which Ihave in View end elevation of the hot water bag. 1 p is the provision ofa self-supporting heating Fig, .2 isfa front elevation of the same. bagwhich when placed against the feet or Fig.3 is a topplan view of thesame. other portion of the human body will hold Fig.4 is a verticalsection taken along the its position and maintain contact wlthout linesin Fig. 3. i g other support. Referring to the drawing, 1 represents theFor this purpose I have invented a confiat bas'e,which may be'of ageneral rectantainer which is provided with an extended gular shape andmay be provided with a hole base of suflicient stiffness to prevent itsfold- 2 by means of which the bag may be hung up ing up and which formsthe support of the when not in use. The container proper is r heatingbag. Rising from the base is a 110 formed of two, preferably vertical,end walls low container for containing the Water or 8 .and a front wall4 which rises from the other heating fluid, which container is soconbase and which may be vertical, but which structed to substantiallymaintain its contour is preferably slightly inclined upwardly and whenfilled with the water. rearwardly, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. 5 25 Thebottom of the container is preferably represents the rear wall whichalso rises from formed by the base itself and the container the base andhas a greater inclination, conis of oblong shape with substantiallyvertical verging upwardly towards the front wall and end walls. Thefront wall of the base apthe walls united by the curved top 6. proachesthe vertical but preferably inclines 7 r r nt tifi' i ib hi h t d 30slightly rearwardly, while the rear Wall Of from the base up the frontwall around over the base inclines forwardly and upwardly to the top anddown the rear wall to the base, the top of the container. I One of theseribs is preferably provided ,"at One of the end walls has a filling andempeach end of the bagand a third in the center. tying opening which isprovided with a wa- Each of the end walls is provided with a 35tor-tight screw plug or other suitable stopper. handle or horizontallydisposed rib 8 by' Both end walls may be provided with means of whichthe bag may be conveniently means for grasping the contalner, such aslifted. One of the end walls, at a pointnear suitable handles, which maybe exterior and its top, is provided with an opening forfillhorizontally disposed ribs. ing and emptying, and said opening ispro- Any suitable material may be used for the vided with a neck 9 inwhich is screwed a container, such for instance as metal, but I stopper10. p r v prefer to use rubber, the base being suflicient- When the bagis made from rubber or simily stifl' to keep its shape and properlysuplar material the necessary stiffness in the base port the bag whilethe walls of the bag itself may be obtained by embedding therein the x45 may be of softer rubber, so that the bag may required number oflayers of fabric 11, in be folded substantially flat on the base whenmuch the same manner as the outer casings not in use. To maintain thedesired contour of automobiles are reinforced and made stiff, of the bawhen it is filled I prefer to proand like layers of fabric may beembedded in vide the ront and rear walls and top with the ribs 7, asindicated at 12. 50 suitable stiffening means. Such means may The baseshould be extended toward the 1 0 front and rear beyond the walls 4 and5 to asufficient extent to give a firm stance for the heating bag and toprevent the same being tipped over. When the hot water bag is used theheels of the user rest upon the base and thus help in anchoring the bagin place. The tendency to tip is further counteracted by the fact thatthe front and rear walls of the bag converge upwardly, thus providing across sectional area of substantially triangular shape, which addsgreatly to the stability of the bag.

The base may also be extended to a limiteddegree beyond the end walls,which will also provide a greater degree of stability.

The idea of providing a front wall which approaches the vertical or hasa relatively slight angle of convergence toward the rear wall is toprovide a contact surface for the feet of: the user which will bedisposed at the proper angle to maintain surface contact oversubstantially the sole area of the feet. If a greater inclination isdesired the heating bag is applied to the feetwith the wall 5 againstthe soles.

My improved heating bag is much more convenient to use and its heatingeffect is more fully realized than is possible in the case of theconventional heating bag now in general use.

I have described and illustrated the embodiment of my invention as a hotwater bag but it will be understood that any suitable and convenientsource of heat or heating agent may be employed.

I claim 1. A heating bag comprising a triangularly prismatic containerof flexible waterproof material having one of its sides laterally X-tended in both directions to form a base on which the remainder of thebag is collapsible, and reinforcing ribs extending transversely aroundthe remaining sides of the container to assist in holding the containerin prismatic form when filled and to prevent direct contact of the footsoles with the body of the container.

2. A heating bag comprising a triangularly prismatic container offlexible waterproof material having one of its sides laterally extendedin both directions to form a base on which the remainder of the bag iscollapsible, and reinforcing and stiffening means embed- Cled in thebasal side of the container.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Pa, this 26th day of February, 1932.

FREDERICK MARSHALL.

